The Cleveland Browns suffered another humiliating loss against their division rivals, this time falling to the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns couldn’t get anything going on offense, ending the game with more turnovers than points. The Browns’ offense looked lifeless under the helm of rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a late replacement for the injured Deshaun Watson. At least Myles Garrett played well once again.
It showed as the offense struggled to find consistency with the rookie quarterback. The line had difficulty adjusting to Thompson-Robinson’s drop depth, and the receivers were unaccustomed to the timing of his throws. The run game looked okay, but the Browns dug themselves into a hole and couldn’t rely on the run to score points.
Buy Browns TicketsThe Browns’ defense did an admirable job despite bad field positions and little rest throughout the day. That’s not to say they were without fault; the defense struggled on third down. The defensive line couldn’t get close to Lamar Jackson, allowing him ample time to find open receivers downfield. The Browns gave up multiple second and third downs because they couldn’t get to Jackson. While Jackson is a top-5 quarterback in the NFL, that’s no excuse for what happened.
The Browns simply could not execute when it mattered most. Thankfully, the team will have a week off to regroup. Here are the Studs and Duds from this week’s loss.
Stud: DE Myles Garrett
Myles Garrett had another great game, recording one sack and three quarterback hits. He spent the entire game hounding Lamar Jackson in ways the box score won’t relay. Garrett got instant pressure against Jackson while fighting through numerous double and triple-teams. Unfortunately, Garrett injured his ankle while taking down Jackson in the third quarter.
Despite the injury, Garrett finished the game by flushing Jackson out of the pocket on multiple occasions. Garrett was seen in a walking boot after the game. The Browns play the San Francisco 49ers on October 15th in Cleveland. Hopefully, Garrett can make a full recovery during the bye week. Sunday’s performance is a reminder of what makes him a star. He could’ve pulled himself from the game after his injury but decided to play through the pain and finish the game.
That is what being a real leader looks like, playing despite an injury and down multiple possessions. Myles is worth his weight in gold.
Dud: WR Elijah Moore
Elijah Moore hasn’t had the start to his time in Cleveland that he hoped for. The young wide receiver is seeing a lot of usage but hasn’t had a big play yet. The hunt for the big play is starting to haunt him.
We saw the start of it last week when the receiver called for a pass that Deshaun Watson had no business entertaining. It resulted in a horrible fumble that is fully on Watson for throwing the ball backward while getting hit by two defenders. The same cannot be said for this week, where Moore tried to make something out of nothing and ruined a drive.
On the Browns’ third drive, they finally got the offense moving and were just inside the red zone before Moore took a 20-yard loss on a sweep play, retreating three yards every time he saw a defender. The play took the Browns into fringe field goal range and created a second and 30 for the offense. The Browns only had two more plays inside the Ravens red zone, and they were in the final seconds.
Moore’s hunt for the big gain is going to leave him on the bench sooner or later. The Browns cannot afford to blow good scoring opportunities due to selfish delusions.
Dud: QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson
Dorian Thompson-Robinson struggled heavily in the game, going 19-36 with three interceptions and one fumble recovered by the Browns. Thompson-Robinson’s expected points added were -26.3.
Thompson-Robinson is making his first NFL start against a cerebral Baltimore defense that is a tough matchup for anyone. The rookie looked completely lost in the game. It wasn’t reminiscent of a bad Stefanski offense led by backups but a game reminiscent of old Browns’ offenses under rookies like Charlie Frye and Connor Shaw. Thompson-Robinson spent most of the game trying to pepper the right side of the field, ignoring the other 2/3rds of the field almost completely. He was not trying to read concepts, instead relying on trying to fit the ball between the sideline and the receiver.
Those are really difficult throws that take great accuracy on the quarterback’s part and good timing on the receivers. The rookie quarterback lacks both due to his inexperience. Most of his flaws were displayed in the final play, where he spent 10 seconds to throw one pass that was intercepted. He had no sense of urgency, didn’t trust his eyes, and still reached a bad conclusion. I don’t want to be too harsh on a rookie quarterback making his debut, especially if they’re told last minute.
But this experience might be a good reminder to fans that the NFL preseason doesn’t tell us anything about players.
